The American Spectator : Foolish Thoughts

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Foolish Thoughts

By Ben Stein on 4.1.11 @ 10:02AM

Who is President Barack H. Obama trying to kid with his Middle East policy?

Herewith a few, no doubt foolish, thoughts about President Barack H. Obama’s Middle East policy.

First, it doesn’t make any sense. President Barack H. Obama’s close friend and apologist, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts (D) wrote a week ago in the Wall Street Journal to the effect that one of our main goals in helping to oust our longtime ally, Hosni Mubarak, in Egypt, and our nutty “friend,” Moammar Gaddafi in Libya was to get the Egyptian and Libyan people good jobs.

Yes. I am not making this up. Surely, this must be the first time in human history that one nation bombed the hell out of a much smaller, weaker nation to get the people there jobs. And anyway, how are we going to get those poor people jobs? How can a cruise missile get people good jobs (except maybe cleaning up the rubble)? And if Mr. Barack H. Obama and Senator Kerry know how to get “good jobs” for the people of Libya, maybe they could use that knowhow to get jobs for the roughly 15.5 million Americans who are unemployed.

When I think that we have gone to war with rationales like that one, I really want to just find a cave and hide in it until Mr. Obama goes away.

2.) It is now cruelly apparent that the Egyptian Revolution has not gone as well as we might have hoped. Islamic law, enforced by the military, is taking hold in Egypt. The poor beleaguered Copts, who made a show of solidarity with the demonstrators, are an endangered species. Businessmen are put on trial just for being successful.

Protest itself is now illegal. Women who protest are raped or hauled off for involuntary virginity testing. (I am not making this up. It was in Nick Kristof’s column in the New York Times. He has a wicked sense of humor, but this does not sound like a gag.) Professors who do not endorse the Moslem Brotherhood are threatened with summary killing. (By the way, this does not bother Mr. Kristof much, if I read him right. It’s “messy” and no more.)

And this was supposed to be a revolution that ushered in a rule of democracy and human rights.

The Moslem Brotherhood of Egypt, sworn to destroy Israel, hand in glove with Hamas, proponent of Shariah law worldwide, is poised to take over the whole country and put it on a war footing with Israel.

This Revolution (as I respectfully predicted) is turning into exactly the kind of nightmare that the Iranian “Revolution” against the Shah became: the replacement of a fairly mild tyranny with a brutal, violently reactionary Moslem terror state. The amazing part is that this was coming as plainly as a freight train barreling down the track.

Mr. Barack H. Obama ignored it, and pushed for Mubarak’s ouster. Now, instead of a friend in Egypt, we have a bitter enemy — armed with superb U.S. made weapons.

3.) The exact same thing is happening in Libya. Certainly Col. Gaddafi is a wild man. But we don’t even know who the rebels are. The Israelis, who have a life or death interest in knowing these things, say the al Qaeda is a big part of the rebellion. The Moslem Brotherhood is another big part.

So, we are attacking Col. Gaddafi — again, a crazy man — on behalf of people who may well be far more dangerous to us than Gaddafi was in the last ten years. Surely this must be the first time we have ever gone to war for total strangers.

Of course, Libya will end up dominated by the Islamists, because that’s how all Moslem countries in the Middle East wind up when there is a rebellion. That’s as predictable as gravity. They are organized, smart, and fearless. Our present leadership is confused, confused, and confused. They are run by patient, cunning tough guys. We are run by Hillary Clinton. You get the picture?

4.) Interestingly enough, while we literally go to war to oust Col. Gaddafi, who is no threat to anyone outside Libya, we do not lift one finger to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons or to change the regime in Syria which is unremittingly hostile to us and always has been. If we have all these great, accurate Tomahawk missiles, why don’t we blow up the Iranian nuclear bomb making sites? Why are the evil allies, Iran and Syria, immune to our righteous anger as they slaughter their own people, while crazy clown-like Gaddafi gets hammered? Could it be that Mr. Barack H. Obama is afraid of Syria and Iran? And if he’s terrified of Ahmadinejad now, what’s it going to be like when Iran is a nuclear power?

Or is Mr. Barack H. Obama secretly sympathetic to Iran and Syria? Is there some wicked connection between the Assad/Ahmadinejad axis and the Minister Farrakhan/ black Muslims of Chicago world? And from them to the President? One hears such things, but they are too upsetting to be believed.

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About the Author

Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (196) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

Habu| 4.1.11 @ 10:11AM

Too bad for a once great country that NO person in our government will move to impeach this mulatto maniac.

Bill Diebold| 4.1.11 @ 4:58PM

Dear Habu,
I believe most right thinking people would love a change from braack hussein obummer our fascist islamo community organizer...but can you even conceive of a POTUS "Homer Biden" and VPOTUS Hillary the penis punisher?...please nuke me first.

Adam| 4.2.11 @ 3:25AM

Facist Islamo organizer? Who will take you seriously?

westie| 4.2.11 @ 6:08AM

More info regarding 'fascist islamo community organizer'....233,000 results (0.33 seconds) via Google.

Frisbee| 4.4.11 @ 10:23PM

I would take Biden or Hilary over Obama any day.

Alan Brooks| 4.2.11 @ 12:38PM

Bin Laden, Jefferson Davis: they are the same at heart.

L. J. Webber| 4.3.11 @ 9:41PM

ARE YOU NUTS? How dare you compare bin Laden and Jefferson Davis!!! Your dumb statement doesn't even warrant an answer but it makes me angry to know such stupidity exists in our country in such dangerous times.

Fredrick Ward| 4.4.11 @ 4:04PM

Alan has always been a half stack short a full serving of pancakes. It doesn't surprise me in the least to see him say something so assanine.

Steve A| 4.1.11 @ 10:13AM

Ben, Nicely done. This has been your best effort in recent memory.

SpiralArchitect| 4.1.11 @ 8:23PM

Excellent piece.

Steve K| 4.1.11 @ 8:37PM

Bravo. Excellent Piece.
Sadly, History may remember this as the gathering storm which leads to World War IV and mass mobilization of America to defend itself.

Drunken Sailor| 4.1.11 @ 10:26AM

I wish this had been a cruel April Fools joke. Sadly, it is a even more cruel truth. It infuriates me to know I spent 20 years serving this country only to see the current CIC demolish decades of sacrifices in a few short years.

jim woodbury| 4.2.11 @ 7:29PM

God Bless you "Drunken Sailor". I only hope the current military has enough "commen sense" to do what's right when it is time. One of my favorite quotes is "May the wings of liberty never lose a feather". Kurt Russell in Big trouble in little china". take care my friend and God Bless".

Drunken Sailor| 4.1.11 @ 10:27AM

By decades of sacrifices I was referring to the sacrifices of every man and woman that have/ and are serving.

Susan Foster| 4.1.11 @ 10:30AM

You've come through again with insightful perspectives. When the androgenous POTUS doesn't protect our own borders from marauding murderers, in fact he vigorously opposes the protection Arizona wants to offer, how can he justify this Libyan intervention? And he will have to answer for abandoning Israel. . .to a power higher than us.

wbheff| 4.1.11 @ 10:33AM

In a different context, I stated that since the Libya mess is now under the command of some NATO, that is, foreign, officer, all US troops should be pulled out, as Americans must not serve under the command of a foreigner. I guess I had forgotten that, given who is currently CIC, they already are.

Sam Levi| 4.5.11 @ 11:36AM

Ironically, this is not the first time that a foreign power (the French) have tried to get U.S. servicement to serve under non-American officers. When the french asked us to intervene in Vietnam, they wanted U.S. troops under french officers, the response, "are you nuts?". How times have changed.
"Those who do not learn history's lessons are bound to repeat them."

Anita| 4.1.11 @ 10:45AM

Well, Ben, it seems you are right again. Unfortunately. This CIC truly seems to be in league with Black Muslims, communists, socialists, Black Nationalists, all the haters of America. Including himself.
I am starting to support muammar. At least we know HIM. Thanks again.

Nunya| 4.1.11 @ 11:09AM

Ben, you're spot on, on this one.

Mimi| 4.1.11 @ 11:15AM

God BEN...Foolish Thoughts?...I don't think so !
Read , Washington Times, Jeff Kuhner's article...Wow, SCARY!

I always knew the "O" would slip up and reveal his true MOTIVES....Nobody could be this stupid.!

Sam Levi| 4.5.11 @ 11:41AM

What gets me is that when he was running for office, he made the statement that if he had to make a choice between the arabs and Israel, he would come down on the side of the arabs. What I am surprised at is that he is actually keeping his word on something.

JJC| 4.1.11 @ 11:25AM

Too upsetting to believe? Time to start believing. Yes, the 'rebels' will turn out to be enemies of the USA. But not to BHO.

Cincinnatius| 4.1.11 @ 11:42AM

I am with other commenters here that ask: Where are those in Congress who take their oath to protect the Constitution seriously? Apparently, there isn't a single person in Congress that has the courage, integrity, or good sense to stop this travesty known as the Obama administration. The consequences of this lack of conviction on their part will be calamitous to the United States, if, as Ben infers, Saudi Arabia falls and the Iranian nut jobs cut off the oil from Saudi Arabia. They will, as they know the economic turmoil which will result from such an action will serve their designs of a world wide Islamic caliphate. They will be able to extend their control through oil extortion. This is not going to be pretty!

Anthony| 4.2.11 @ 2:20PM

Apparently, Sen. Rand Paul may be the only member of Congress who's actually read the constitution. I pray he's up to the job.

Sam Levi| 4.5.11 @ 11:42AM

It's not about reading it. They all did that.
It's about revering it. Damn few do that.

K962| 4.1.11 @ 11:46AM

Well written indeed. Israel is not going to standby while all these fanatics get their act together. They will hit hard and fast and their enemies won't know it's coming. Unlike the US who telegraphs every move.

Sam Levi| 4.5.11 @ 11:43AM

Not telegraphs, teleprompts......

Strudwick Wickerwire| 4.1.11 @ 12:03PM

And these schmucks, (Obuckethead sycophants) were suppose to be the smart ones... Oh, are we in trouble!!!

W| 4.1.11 @ 12:11PM

Ben, you are missing the economic insights of Senator Kerry. After Libya is destroyed, there will be jobs created by the free market economy in Libya to build roads, houses,, hospitals, churches, mosques, day care centers, and schools
that the Islamists always build.

SpiralArchitect| 4.1.11 @ 8:26PM

Drugs 'n Booze the sure way to lose.

Mike Hawk| 4.1.11 @ 10:15PM

Lurch may be more clueless on this than the Oborg. In case nobody was aware, BTW, Lurch served in Viet Nam.

Anthony| 4.2.11 @ 2:23PM

Yes, Kerry did a couple of months in Nam, then got out because of a splinter in his finger and spat on every soldier, marine, sailor, and airmen who served this country. Only in America could a man disrespect real warriors and be elected to the senate. He's a disgrace.

Frisbee| 4.4.11 @ 10:27PM

Yes, thank God the swift boat vets mobilized against his election. He staged his military career just to get brownie points.

Martin Owens| 4.1.11 @ 12:19PM

Sad, sad to say, but I think Ben is right on the money.

Or as Shakespeare put it:
"So foul a sky clears not without a storm".

David T| 4.1.11 @ 12:22PM

Ben, this is far and away the best run-down I've seen of the predicament in the Middle East and the botched foreign policy of this administration.

BackToBasics| 4.1.11 @ 12:23PM

If the leaders of a country hate America then Obam gives them the hands-off treatment. If they are somewhat friendly to America they need to go; such as Mubarak of Egypt. Ghaddafi was sufficiently anti-American and I still do not think Obam wanted to act against him but was pressured into it. And I do not think he even knew about the Al-Qaida presence among the Libyan rebels when he decided to go in. I'm not sure this would have changed his decision had he known, but I think the glaring lack of planning and knowledge is par fo the course with the Obam admin.

I think we should have stayed out. But now his indecisiveness in this is only going to prolong the conflict. And the short-term domino-effect will be to keep oil prices higher than normal and this will hurt economies all over. The longer-term domino-effect looks to be radical Islamic control over the entire Middle East.

It always seems to be true that domestically, Dems can handle Repubs like a marionette doll but are limp-wristed when it comes to handling our enemies. Repubs are better at handling the bad foreigners than they are the Dems.

One can see in this that Dems are less fearful of losing voters than Repubs are. Dems act domestically with abandon, Repubs are as cautious and nervous of losing the voters as a scared cat.

suzy000| 4.1.11 @ 12:37PM

Mr. Stein....am still reading this article but had to stop and ask a valid question....how in the heck do we still have 15.5 million unemployed when the rate keeps dropping now at 8.8%? Is the Labor Dept. changing the facts to make help this administration look better and also improve Obama's chances in the 2012 election? It's gotta be. We see little improvement in America, in fact housing is worse. We all know that real estate is the very backbone of all employment in America. So how can 8.8% be accurate? I think they are lying to us!

SpiralArchitect| 4.1.11 @ 8:29PM

Only those that are still receiving benefits are counted. Once benefit's end you are no longer counted.

Tricky? Yes, indeed.

Clint| 4.2.11 @ 9:31AM

The U-6 Unemployment Figure is 15.9 Percent for March,2011.

The U-6 measures includes the officially unemployed, marginally attached workers, and those who are working part-time but want full-time work.

Fredrick Ward| 4.4.11 @ 4:10PM

So basically the administration is lying to us.

Sam Levi| 4.5.11 @ 11:49AM

How do you know when Obama or his administration are lying? the teleprompter is on....or they're talking.

Drunken Sailor| 4.1.11 @ 12:45PM

Suzy,

Ben (unless I am mistaken) is using the actual total # of unemployed, including the ones that have just stopped looking for work and can no longer claim benifits. This is the correct # according to the burea of labor statistics. The 8.8% rate is based on just the ones still collecting benifits. Sure it looks good on paper but it isn't the whole story.

Michael Tomlinson| 4.2.11 @ 8:40AM

Gallup says unemployment is over 10% that's closer to reality than the phony numbers being pushed by unionized Federal bureaucrats.

thebardofmurdock | 4.1.11 @ 1:12PM

Obama’s Strategery

For those who study history
And military strategy,
A new approach to waging war
In ways that were untried before,
Is rarely seen or heard:
The old ways are preferred.

But in these times of global strife,
With sounds of drum and notes of fife,
A new man joins the hall of fame
Of leaders who receive acclaim,
For strategy in war,
Too brilliant to ignore.

With Hannibal, Napoleon,
And Kahn, the great Mongolian,
With Brennus and with Pericles
With Sun Tzu and Eurybiades,
Our President does share
A real strategic flair.

He joins in war, almost too late,
Makes public his withdrawal date,
Commences action from the air,
Then makes his enemies aware
He’ll not attack on land,
Across the desert sand.

Within just days, perhaps a week,
His reputation and mystique
For managing the world’s affairs
Achieves its peak when he declares
He’ll bomb the rebels too,
For things that they might do.

Perhaps another Nobel Prize
Our friends from Stockholm could reprise,
For excellence in strategy
While waging war on Tripoli.
It’s merited, at worst,
As much as was the first.

spinoneone| 4.1.11 @ 3:46PM

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by Norway, from Oslo, not Stockholm, Sweden. The rest of the Nobels come from Sweden, just not the peace prize.

Frisbee| 4.4.11 @ 10:30PM

C'mon it's a great poem. I loved the part "He'll bomb the rebels too". Ha! Why not? Bomb everybody for humanitarianism.

PattyMor| 4.1.11 @ 1:38PM

Well the S--- has hit the proverbial fan over Lybia.
You could see it coming. We have security people telling us that the MUSLIM Brotherhood is a secular organization. Then, you have the Prez's security apparatus telling us they don't know who the rebels in Lybia are. They can't be this stupid, so you know they are lying through their teeth.

Just whose side is Obama On? Its obvious he not on America's side. He has spent us into oblivion. He has shut down domestic drilling, farming, mining, and fishing. He has nationalized more land so nothing productive can be done on it.

So, I would like just one reporter to ask President Obama: Just why did you go to Pakistan while you were in college, who did you meet with, and who paid your way? Where is your birth certificate and your other records. Why do you spent millions of dollars trying to hide everything.? What did you say at Rashid Kahlidi going away party. Why does the LA Times have the tape of the party under lock and key? Just who are you Mr. President and what are your true intentions?

Jack| 4.2.11 @ 2:01PM

Well Done! My sentiments exactly. They have shut everything down and at the same time talked world trade which moved what little production left overseas and at the same time give lip service to creating jobs. Masterful job of destroying our country. They should all be deported.

ENOUGH ROPE| 4.1.11 @ 1:57PM

Thank you Mr. Stein for connecting facts and to raise questions about Obama's motives and his allegiance. I will be blunter. Obama is a traitor whose allegiance is to the collectivists who back him and use him to establish themselves in power in order to end individual freedom and make the state supreme. What do we do?

"Oh woe, and woe again." (Zero Mostel, Funny Thing...Forum). Aside from the World of Oz, political and economic gloom abounds, and doom is certain and will be worse than any past political and economic chaos. What must we do to save ourselves? Who will save us? Is there any system of governance to save us? How will we establish and preserve an America that has for its foundation truth, its object justice, its operation freedom, and its driving force love?

Can men of goodwill, on their own, conceive and execute plans that will achieve the four goals above? Not likely. Human selfishness usually impedes doing what's right. So is it hopeless? It is if we rely only on ourselves because selfishness is too powerful a human trait. Modern man deceives himself by his arrogance of self-sufficiency. Material progress is manifest and far in excess of spiritual progress. Experts and the people who value the importance of the individual instead of the state, need something to give them the wisdom and goodness to conceive and enact plans that will preserve and protect individual freedom.

We need to obtain the driving force of love which is the virtue that fosters truth, justice, and freedom. Whatever our religious beliefs and church membership, we as individuals and as a nation need to pray and ask for God's graces to increase our love for our neighbor and for God. What have we go to lose by praying--some time lost from entertainments?

We are in a contest of wills against those who scorn the individual and lie and corrupt their way to power to rule us for their benefit. If we pray and live good lives in conformance to God's laws and ask for and obtain God's help, which side will win? Recall the aphorism "Work as though everything depends on you, and pray as though everything depends on God." The Collectivists use only the first virtue, but for evil. When we who seek truth, justice, individual freedom, and love choose to use both virtues, then good will triumph over evil. Use our wits, backs AND our souls.

S.M. Murray | 4.1.11 @ 9:42PM

I'm appreciative of, finally, someone to call the "obvious" obvious. TRAITOR! How long shall
America endure this flagrant nihilst? Surely, our
society has not forgotten the price we've paid - IN BLOOD, IN INDIVIDUAL EFFORT FOR ALL - to
allow this charlatan to condemn OUR country to
the morass of failed collectivism. FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE is the answer to any form of
government that IS NOT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE! Shall we sit
'round the 'ole campfire and sing while freedom
takes a back seat to a "man" with no birth certificate? CHRIST IN A SIDECAR, PEOPLE!
WAKE UP....WHO IS THIS MAN - WHO IS MAKING THE MOST OF HIS OPPORTUNITY TO WRECK OUR LIVES?

Cuffs| 4.1.11 @ 2:01PM

How does one get to be an expert on
foreign affairs, with no education in history,
or trade and no experience in leading anything, let alone decision making when this person comes
from the south side of Chicago.
We have an empty suit in the White House.

Bob Grant| 4.2.11 @ 11:07AM

Don't you know how this works? ...because of his "historic" presidency and gift of gab, our dear leader is an expert simply by moving his mouth.

Jeamar37| 4.1.11 @ 2:12PM

Just a day ago I said Obama makes Nixon sound like a boy scout. Right on Mr. Stein. But I keep wondering why no on brings up impeachment of Obama. His failings are so much more damaging to our security there were Clinton's personal moral predicaments.

Dixie Pixie| 4.1.11 @ 5:18PM

Greetings Jeamar

The reason why impeachment will not be brought up by the Republicans is Harry Reid's Democratic Senate would never convect Obama of anything but would exonerate him of all charges.
Then Obama could claim immunity for any following impeachment proceedings.

Thus impeachment can only be used once and only when the Republicans hold both Houses of Congress.
That can only occur after the 2012 election and maybe irrelevant if Obama loses reelection.

If Obama wins, then he can reasonably claim an electoral mandate from the people which would push back any impeachment until the 2014 elections provided the Republicans can gain and keep control of Congress.

Does that make it any clearer for you?

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 2:13AM

Why would you want to impeach President Obama? The guy is single-handedly making sure that the Democrat part is rendered irrelevant for at least a generation.

Bob Grant| 4.2.11 @ 11:12AM

Man, I have a hard time typing this but I actually long for the days of commander-in-chief Bill Clinton...

...Obama's ideology, incompetence, disdain of most things American, and inept political gamesmanship are both a sight to behold and truly frightening.

carol| 4.1.11 @ 2:16PM

fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me
I hope the lack of post college careers have enlightened the brain dead and the winning the future campaign falls on wiser ears
I live in hope....

ABNCP| 4.1.11 @ 3:16PM

Thank you Ben for your articles focus. After decades of progressive brainwashing by most of the Democrat politicians, by some Republicans, by all of the network media, by the majority of academe and most of the so called entertainment industry, it may finally now be becoming obvious to most Americns the people who have been feeding us this tripe are as full of shxt as a Christmas turkey. Even though this country elected this unqualified, incompetent and perhaps Manchurian candidate, it might have been a blessing in disguise if it really wakes us up to the danger we are and have been facing for 40/50 years. The hubris this administration has displayed for the last two years, from Obama, Pelosi and Reid has acted like a laxative for the American people. It flushed all the wishy washy feeling about what actually goes on in Washington. If WE THE PEOPLE are not by now aware we must get involved in who we elect and send to govern us and what they do when they get there we are LOST!! The next election, 2012, will either start to put this country back on the course this Democratic Republic started with or God help us.

old progmr| 4.1.11 @ 3:17PM

"I really want to just find a cave and hide in it until Mr. Obama goes away."

I feel the same way, but I fear when I emerge after he has gone away, there won't be a damn thing left of the USA I once knew and loved. Best to stay out of that cave and just try to ensure that Mr. Obama goes away in 2012.

Ron| 4.1.11 @ 3:21PM

Dear Ben,

Where were you and all of the commenters to your post when George W. Bush invaded Iraq.

Seems like the same issue to me.

Brett Kelley| 4.1.11 @ 5:10PM

I don't seem to recall Libyan leader Gaddafi killing hundreds of thousands of his own people, like Saddam, he hasn't used weapons of mass destruction (chemical weapons) against his own people, and others (Iranians), like Saddam, he doesn't pay Palestinian' (a name for a made up nationality) suicide bombers families $25,000 each, like Saddam, he didn't violate U.N. sanctions, which called for a renewal of the first gulf war, over a dozen times, like Saddam, he didn't shoot at U.S. warplanes enforcing the no-fly zone (to keep him from commiting genocide against the Kurds/Shiites) over 2,000 times, like Saddam, he didn't try to have a former POTUS assasinated, like Saddam, he doesn't have EVERY security organization in the WORLD stating he has weapons of mass destruction, like Saddam (only the U.N. inspector Hans Blix, and one U.S. inspector disagreed with this consensus), and he wasn't the first idiot to stand up and get noticed after 9/11, like Saddam....so your complete lack of knowledge/information might make it seem like the same issue...it is most certainly not.

SpiralArchitect| 4.1.11 @ 8:34PM

Might be a little wordy for Ron.

Drunken Sailor| 4.1.11 @ 5:12PM

Not the same at all Ron. Ask all the Democrat Congressmen that voted in favor of the invasion. But then again you weren't really looking for a honest answer were you?

W| 4.1.11 @ 5:55PM

ronnie, ask the democrats who voted to invade after there was debate in congress

Occam's Tool| 4.2.11 @ 1:32AM

Dear Ron,

Please inform me when Q attempted to murder an US President. Saddam did attempt this. Casus Belli enough, I feel, although the Nation building has been somewhat ridiculous (can't civilize savages---go in, kill who you have to, put the Kurds in charge of as much as possible, (reliable US allies), and let the rest of the country go to hell would have been fine, too. Instead of Nation Building, we should have been overthrowing the Iranians after Saddam was toppled.

Skippy| 4.2.11 @ 5:57PM

As I recall, the K rail barriers went up in D.C. in 1983 as a response to GQKDaffy's threat to kill Pres. Reagan.
Sadaam was not the first to level that kind of threat.
That alone should be adequate justification to "find" him and JDAM him once and for all.
Then we can sail for home and let the Euros negotiate for oil with the next transvestite Libyan psycho.

Occam's Tool| 4.3.11 @ 3:24AM

This is a quote from the CNN website in 2002:

Bush calls Saddam 'the guy who tried to kill my dad'
HOMELAND SECURITY

Share this on:Mixx Facebook Twitter Digg delicious reddit MySpace StumbleUpon LinkedIn September 27, 2002
President Bush leveled harsh criticism Thursday at the Senate on homeland security issues, but he revised his stump speech to make clear "there are fine senators from both parties who care deeply about our country."

And, in discussing the threat posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Bush said: "After all, this is the guy who tried to kill my dad."

The new language in discussing his fight with the Democrat-controlled Senate over homeland security was a reaction from Bush to sharp complaints from Democrats that he was being overly political in his speeches on issues related to the war on terrorism.

gentlewaves| 4.1.11 @ 3:23PM

Right on the money! I fear for my country but, then again, it was foreseeable. It is painful to observe the heart being cut out of our beloved land. One weeps...

obadiah| 4.1.11 @ 3:33PM

Those who agree with Ben Stein that "Obama must fail" apparently conclude that this is a hum-dinger of a contribution to the heap of abuse. To my critical eye, it looks like a boring reprise of the stupidity that afflicted those who were determined to "make Bush fail." John Kerry makes foolish comments and Ben Stein dishonestly tries to stick them on Obama. At least Biden is keeping his mouth shut or the "make Obama fail" claque would raise the volume to a deafening level.

So here's what I think and have said before. Obama doesn't know what he's doing in Libya but he's trying to do something. Doing something appears to be preferable to doing nothing. No one has a better idea. The situation in many respects mirrors Bush's Iraqi adventure. The reversals in positions would be laughable if they were not so ruinous.

TennesseeVolunteer| 4.1.11 @ 3:46PM

Why did we have to go in at all? to put our military at risk for a rebel group we don't even know. To have an Administration of Fools who each in their turn say something different than the last guy?

Drunken Sailor| 4.1.11 @ 5:14PM

Hear, Hear TN. How would us not having gone in affected the US at all? If it for humanitarian reason why only Libya? Why not Iran?

Michael Tomlinson| 4.2.11 @ 8:45AM

Unlike President Bush Obama refused to go to Congress and has consistently lied to them and the American people about his "plan" for Lybia.

We also won the war in Iraq. The only winners in Lybia will be al Qaeda and Obama's favorite Muslim "secularists" the Muslim Brotherhood.

carol| 4.1.11 @ 3:42PM

Here is a better idea.
. we can't stop it
drill here and watch what happens over there power is the fear of the loss of the money

Larsky| 4.1.11 @ 3:59PM

To be redundant.

Yes, even to a fly over country red state guy, it is fairly obvious that in a region that has never had a functioning representative government, other than Israel, that there was and is little likelihood that democracy will prevail where no Jeffersons, Adams, or Madisons exist, only mullahs and Sharia law to the rule the land.

I suspect we can count on a fiercely belligerent Middle East once the dust has settled on the 'Arab Spring'.

I predict that a nuke will be set off somewhere in the West or Israel within 5 years.

If the Moslems think that Israel or the West will lie down and roll over by their command I suspect they will be sorely in error.

I would guess that before Israel capitulates it will unleash everything it has and take out much of the Moslem Middle East in the process. Same for the West if they come at us or we damn well better.

I keep saying for some time "Achmed, please don't open that door, my friend errr I mean enemy, you do not know what is behind it and what you imagine to be behind it isn't there."

May Allah preserve Achmed and all his Moslem brothers the best he/she can. They will surely need it if they pursue their stated agenda and in their cause they will see a world horrible and sad for their efforts for a very long time.

Please for everyones sake, don't open that door.

Allahu Akbar

gary siebel| 4.1.11 @ 4:21PM

In response to your question as to why we don't just Tomahawk the Iranian nuke sites, perhaps you have heard of Telluride? I mean Norway, not the film place you already know about.

Stuxnet virus was more effective than a Tomahawk.

Democrat| 4.1.11 @ 5:16PM

I share your concerns, and I always enjoy hearing, reading what you have to say, but I still hope the Arabs will find the right way forward... although they seem doomed to fail at whatever they do... Prof. Fouad Ajami simply cannot be the only sane Arab in the world.... there must be many, many more... millions more... I'd very much like to believe that to be... self evident...

Carl| 4.1.11 @ 9:44PM

Islam has plenty of sanity. The espousers of sanity simply seem to be invariably either a minority or are too poorly organized to gain power.

Michael Tomlinson| 4.2.11 @ 8:46AM

I'd like to see some sane Muslims. Does anyone know any aside from Obama's favorite "secularists" the Muslim Brotherhood?

dick| 4.1.11 @ 5:23PM

BEN STEIN IS A VERY WISE MAN.

Joseph F. McNulty| 4.1.11 @ 5:30PM

It is worse that you think. The Libyan war makes no sense (although we have a history with Gaddafi, who richly deserves ending up hanging by his heels like Mussolini). But that is not the point. Why would we empower Al-Queda fighters (who go into battle shouting “Allahu Ackbar!”)? The head of the provisional authority has admitted that the local Al-Queda affiliate is a significant element in the coalition. Gaddifi says the “rebels” are Al-Queda. Are we to believe that Gaddifi is entirely delusional when the coalition admits Al-Queda involvement? We are told that this is all being done purely to prevent a “humanitarian” disaster. But we have taken no action elsewhere in similar circumstances (in Yemen and Syria, where people are being shot down in the street). Let’s not even mention Iran, where Obama went weeks without even commenting on Basjid militia killing peaceful protesters. No, a bigger game is afoot. The war with Libya is mainly meant to set the predicate for the imposition of a “no-fly zone” on Israel when the PLO declares unilaterally its “Palestinian State” with UN blessing next fall. Consider the facts: Samantha Power, a prominent (but little-known by the public), member of Obama’s National Security Council, has long blamed Israel for the lack of Middle Eastern peace. She recently said that the United States, to achieve a Palestinian State, has to be prepared to take bold and dramatic action ON THE GROUND. It also has to be prepared to alienate a “powerful and rich constituency” in United States politics. I wonder who she had in mind? Obama has now created the precedent of NOT going to Congress for authorization before taking military action. Hillary let the cat out of the bag the other day when she said that (1) if there is a “humanitarian” crisis, (2) the United States is the only power equipped to engage in the necessary military action, and (3) the mission has been blessed by international organizations like the UN or the Arab League, then you don’t have to go to Congress for authorization. Consider the implications of that for a moment. Since Congress is a friend of Israel, by-passing Congress is a necessary element of any such plan. So the PLO will declare unilaterally a state after a UN vote. Abbas has already said that when this happens, all Israeli “settlers” in the West Bank will be expelled. If Israel rejects the declaration of a Palestinian state on a unilateral basis (without negotiation and with such a state at war with Israel), Palestinian gangs, with the blessing of the UN and aflame with nationalism, will attack the “settlements.” If Israel tries to take any action to protect Israelis in the West Bank from getting Fogle-family treatment, the United States, because of an Israeli blockade and the resulting “humanitatian crisis” among the Palelstinians, will declare a “no-fly zone.” If the Israelis respond with ground action, the zone will be expanded to a “no-drive zone.” Ultimately, in the name of “preserving peace,” it may be expaneded to include Israeli airspace. This will all be presented by Obama as an “unpleasant necessity” to solve the Middle Eastern peace problem and “save Israel from itself” — the unfortunate action of a friend, like an intervention for Charlie Sheen. And remember, it was all set up by the Libyan war, because Gaddifi is such an easy target, an aging dictator who can be dismissed as “mentally unbalanced.” Obama and Hillary, both Soros creatures, have created this scene with the “Responsibility to Protect” doctrine, which justifies such “humanitarian” interventions.

I assume Obama will not provoke this crisis until after the election, so he can continue to pose as a “Friend of Israel” and gather thousands of votes of feckless liberal Jews. Will they be fooled again? Will their leftism trump their Judaism again?

VBMax| 4.1.11 @ 9:05PM

A compelling analysis.. I hope you're wrong but I don't think you are.

Sara Burke| 4.1.11 @ 9:15PM

Joseph...very concise observation of the long term implications of the Libyan war. When I have shared this strategy people think I'm crazy. Americans don't want to believe their leaders are this evil. My Jewish friends are perhaps the most resistant to thinking Obama would endanger the Jewish state in this way. But if you connect the dots and the people Obama surrounds himself with there is no other conclusion.

Carl| 4.1.11 @ 9:24PM

Won't happen. There's no more to this Libya game than meets the eye. Obama didn't want this conflict, but he has to be a good international partner.

westerly| 4.2.11 @ 3:37AM

Then why did he, Valerie Jarret and Hillary Clinton meet with the Muslim Brotherhood so many times before this occurred? Why do they continue to meet with them? He is only a good international partner to his own people. Haven't you read any of his (ghostwritten) books? He says that in the final analysis he will side with the Muslim people.

BackToBasics| 4.1.11 @ 11:33PM

I think the US would be hard-pressed to implement a no-fly zone against Israel. I also think Israel would not hesitate to use nukes if it came down to this scenario. They'd use the threat of it anyway to stop the US from lending a hand inthis.

Obam has the destruction of America as we know it in mind and he can get awy with it because the Repubs are afraid to use their power and also because of media bias in Obam's favor. But I do not think he is adept at foreign policy at all as I mentioned in my post above. I do not think Libya is a testing ground or no-fly precedent for future action to establish a Palestinian state. On foreign policy, he's making it all up as he goes along with the one exception that he favors America's enemies. But even so there is still much confusion on the foreign policy front for him; as there is for most Democrats.

Drew| 4.2.11 @ 10:04AM

Joseph,

That's very scary.
You propose that an Isreali no-fly zone is being planned by the WH a couple years out. Very plausible. I believe, however that this bunch doesn't plan past the current news cycle. Much more likely is than Obama stumbles upon it in yet another future set of conditions that are too complex for the boy-king to properly navigate. He'll feel too week to avoid pressure from the Arabs (or France or whomever) and, like all true leftists, he possesses no moral compass to prevent it on his own.

Dixie Pixie| 4.1.11 @ 6:15PM

Spot on Ben.
It was one of the most lucid and comprehensive analysis of the Middle East yet

But I am confused on one small point.
The Wahhabi are the heart and soul of the Saudi religion.
They have full control of the "Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and are under the direct control of King Abdullah.

That would seem to me that the "Islamic Radicals" are the Saudi Government.
After all didn't the Saudi's send in its Army to quash the Bahrain rebellion?
They did not seem to have a problem doing so.

Or did you mean the "Secular Democracy loving Peaceful Protesters that only the MSM can see?

Joseph F. McNulty| 4.1.11 @ 6:50PM

Just for information sakes, the Saudis do not use the general army, which might be of doubtful loyaltly, but the Saudi militia (National Guard) instead, because it is drawn from Bedouin tribes that have a PERSONAL relationship with the Saudi king (who is aslo a Bedouwin). These rural tribesmen will fire on Bahrani Shiites if ordered, while the general army (drawn from the urban population including Shiites) might not.

Dixie Pixie| 4.1.11 @ 9:28PM

Thanks for the update Joseph.
I thought I was confused on a few small points.

From what I saw on the MSM the Saudis had their attempted Rebellion will in hand.
From your update, I take it the Saudi Militia would fire on the Protesters if the Saudi Regular Army would not.
This assumes that the situation is beyond the control of the Saudi Religious Police which is not a given.
Is that a correct assumption?

Nite| 4.1.11 @ 8:32PM

Obama is totally in over his head. I do fear though that he has an underlying agenda. His administration has contacts within the Muslim Brotherhood, and of course George Soros. These are very dangerous people.

SpiralArchitect| 4.1.11 @ 8:35PM

B.O. knows exactly what he is doing.

He would have gone to Congress if he did not want to get involved.

John Carnal| 4.2.11 @ 12:44AM

Exactly right.

bigfoot9p6| 4.1.11 @ 8:44PM

GOP: the party of hypocrites, misanthropes, and sociopaths. I have never seen such blatant hypocrisy on foreign policy (come on, come on lets invade Iraq! it cannot possibly wait until we have the facts, but lets criticize a limited ground-troop-free approach by the opposition after they actually have the facts) and domestic policy (lets have a "conservative" revolution that mainly involves blowing up the national debt in order to make the rich richer-and then whine like babies about the national debt). Lets face it, republicans hate (hate, not dislike, not disdain, hate) people who are not exactly like them. Their basic policy is "lets bomb the crap out foreign, impoverished, dark-skinned people, and simply watch domestic, impoverished, dark skinned people starve to death-its slightly better PR." And these same people claim to be Christians! Well, you are in for a rude awakening at the pearly gates my psychotic friends.

VBMax| 4.1.11 @ 9:09PM

I don't doubt that you have psychotic friends...

Carl| 4.1.11 @ 9:37PM

No it's just some GOPers are hopelessly delusional that if we provide these 'hated' people a chance for liberty, they will behave the same way we do. The idea that all humans want the same thing, regardless of culture. Similar to Jefferson's ideas that in a marketplace of ideas, the best ideas always win out. Both proven wrong. Communities long steeped in stupid don't just become rational spontaneously.

Keyser_Soze| 4.2.11 @ 8:16AM

Sort of like the hypocrisy of the Left that is supporting this Kinetic Military Action but spent 2002-2008 howling at Bush.

Or electing a President that ran against Bush's foreign policy but once elected seems to be following it to a T.

There is hypocrisy on both sides. And if the Right is psychotic then you are at least delusional.

Southern_Comment| 4.2.11 @ 11:47AM

How comical you are. The first (in a nasty little line of name calling) adjective you use to describe GOP is hypocrite, and then use the Iraq war as an example to fortify your judgement. In the House 81 Democrats voted for the resolution, with 126 against. In the Senate, 29 Democrats voted Yes to 21 Democratic Nays.
That 'limited ground troop free' comment is laughable especially considering the heated debate about arming rebels - when the WH claims to have no knowledge of who they are.
As far as 'blowing up the debt', well only one question is posed. . . 'What is our debt now, following two years of failed policies?'
What would cause you to think that a post of hate (hate, not dislike, not disdain, hate) would allow you to judge anyone who is a Christian, or would be read with anything other than a smirk at obvious hypocrisy?
We are watching a president make this country more vulnerable daily. Incompetant or ill-willed is a pointless argument to make. I'm more concerned about the consequences especially when they seem to be arriving so rapidly that we are quickly searching for answers, but in all actuality are more shell shocked and at a loss.
The people are left in a constant state of confusion and are fearful at the thought of a revolution. This would not be the same as the American revolution fought in an era that was without the technology of today. Everything from the rate at which news is available to weaponry has made this a much more dangerous environment. Throw into that mix, the many that would love nothing more than to see the fall of this country. Those same people that you claim want liberty. How is that working out in Egypt?

George True| 4.2.11 @ 3:12PM

Mr Big-foot-in-mouth: You are delusional. You make allegations that are the opposite of the known facts. Facts known and acknowledged even by the Democrats. Congress, including a plurality of Democrats, voted to authorize the Iraq war. This was hardly a rush to war, coming as it did only after seventeen U.N.resolutions that were ignored by Saddam over a 12 year period of time.

It sounds like YOU are the one who is consumed with hate. Maybe you should take a look at that. Also, your citing outlandish fantasies and claiming they are true does not MAKE them true. You really should engage your brain before putting your mouth in gear.

Lesli| 4.1.11 @ 8:49PM

A few other foolish thoughts. First, and this is just the grammar nazi in me, what sort of professional writer begins a numbered list and omits the letter (1). I repeatedly scanned the article, looking for (1), only to finally realize that it had been replaced with the word “first.” Maybe that’s just me.

Secondly, why does a column purporting to criticize President Obama do so based upon comments made by Senator Kerry? I assume that if President Obama said sometime to the effect that the US had become involved in the Libyan campaign, Mr. Stein would have quoted President Obama. Since he fails to supply any such quotes, I am left to assume that President Obama never made any such representation. I certainly never heard or read it.

Finally, and I end here only to avoid writing a short story on the mendacity and half-truths in Mr. Stein’s column, I turn to the following: “When I think that we have gone to war with rationales like that one, I really want to just find a cave and hide in it until Mr. Obama goes away. Or is Mr. Barack H. Obama secretly sympathetic to Iran and Syria? Is there some wicked connection between the Assad/Ahmadinejad axis and the Minister Farrakhan/black Muslims of Chicago world? And from them to the President? One hears such things, but they are too upsetting to be believed.”

Seriously? The Iraq War doesn’t work for you, Mr. Stein? Oh, yeah, those pesky weapons of mass destruction. And the delusion allegation that President Obama is “secretly sympathetic to Iran and Syria.”? That there is a “wicked connection between the Assad/Ahmadinejed axis and the Minister Farrakhan/Black Muslims of Chicago? And from them to the President?” Surely this is the line one is supposed to read to twig to the fact that the whole column is an April Fool’s joke, right?

Although certainly every African-American in Chicago knows all of the others. But Mr. Stein, you’re a Jew living in Malibu; I’m just over the Santa Monica Mountains. Shouldn’t we know each other.

John Carnal| 4.2.11 @ 12:49AM

Why have a savior unless he can do no wrong huh Lesli?

Keyser_Soze| 4.2.11 @ 8:21AM

Hey Leslie:

Here's a question for you.

What has President Obama done in regards to foreign policy in the Middle East that could be considered completely different than what President Bush would have done.

1. Stayed the course in Iraq

2. Surged in Afghanistan

3. Started his own little Kinetic Military Action in Libya.

So what's the difference Leslie?

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 9:19PM

You know, you learn something new every day! I always thought that the number 1 was a numeral. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was a letter. Sorry, just my allergy to BS.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 9:24PM

By the bye, those perky "Wepons of Mass Destruction" that you refer to, your blatant ignorance and bias is showing. A five gallon plastic bucket full of VX would be enought to do everybody in Texas, speaking of which Iraq is about the size of Texas and Texas is a whole lot bigger than a five gallon bucket. To wit, some goober could have buried the bucket in his back yard and how would you ever hope to find it? Just asking.

Rick| 4.1.11 @ 9:04PM

Hey! I live in Michigan and wondered if they could send a few cruise missiles at Detroit to create some jobs there.

Carl| 4.1.11 @ 9:12PM

Very nice.

I suppose this is the absurd end of Keynesian broken window fallacy economics. Why so sad for Japan? All that cleanup means jobs, jobs, jobs. As if the point of jobs is to deliver us from boredom, not poverty.

Michael Tomlinson| 4.2.11 @ 8:48AM

Sounds like a plan Rick. Of course, they'd have to be union built missles.

Rick| 4.2.11 @ 5:12PM

Just a note that the Rick further down in the comments is a different Rick. And.... I have been thinking ... Detroit could probably use more than a "few" cruise missiles dropped on it as it needs a lot of jobs.

Carl| 4.1.11 @ 9:07PM

The answer is scared. And Obama didn't invent this. Vietnam did. We fight the battles we think we can win with the effort we can stomach. Noriega, Saddam, the like. Iraq further lowered the bar. Now even Syria would be too much for us. So the message to bad guys is to be big and bad enough to keep us at bay.

Do I like being the world's cop? No. But what is worse is being the traffic cop that pulls over the guy going 5 mph over, cause the guy going 100 just isn't worth the headache. Soon rogue motorists take note, and floor it past.

laptop repairs wythenshawe | 4.1.11 @ 10:20PM

Interesting article very good read,

nperry| 4.1.11 @ 10:57PM

Dear Ben Stein,
Thanks for the article. I used to be confused. But then I saw that Libya is the best example of "never waste a crisis." Seen in this context, it makes perfect sense to rush to avert a genocide. Now I see that the notion of humanitarian intervention is a great excuse to get rid of Mad Muammar, test out new military gadgets, insert CIA operatives in the light of day, use up those Tomahawk missiles before they expired, and pretend our allies are going to do the heavy lifting, all the while not setting a US boot on the ground. If it weren't so obvious, it would be pretty nifty.

westerly| 4.2.11 @ 3:51AM

Except that there are plenty of boots on the ground. Shhh! Don't tell the American people, but the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit’s ground combat element, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines left Camp Lejeune for Libya on March 28th. This unit is being sent to relieve the Marines from Camp Lejune's26th Marine Expeditionary Unit who were already there to participate in initial ground assaults. The truth is there if you look for it.

Andy Texan | 4.2.11 @ 12:42AM

O is a Traitor but so is every major democrat politician with lots of republicans as well. That is our problem.

John Carnal| 4.2.11 @ 1:00AM

Absolutely. That is why compromise is so yesterday. Freedom lovers do not compromise on measures that diminish freedom. Every last one of them is a traitor. They have been diminishing our freedoms for generations.

And as to impeachment I would like to hear from a professor of constitutional law as to whether double jeopardy applies. If it does not we just keep passing articles of impeachment until the Senate comes to its senses and convicts. Or if it does apply the impeachment articles could just focus on one high crime or misdemeanor at a time. Goodness knows there are plenty of them.

Occam's Tool| 4.2.11 @ 1:35AM

I just wish Bolton would throw his damn hat in the ring already. Only Pawlenty has, so far. Sheesh.

The Bruce| 4.2.11 @ 2:49AM

These "foolish" thoughts are not such. The actions of this administration are perfectly aligned toward an administration intent to destroy the foundations of our nation.

He's making friends with our enemies, while alienating our friends.

Is it so crazy to suggest that we have a First-Couple in the White House, whose racial chip-on-the-shoulder against this country is so great that it that it supersedes our nation's national interests? I hope it's not crazy -- because it's happening.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 2:57AM

Former President Carter has to be laughing out loud over President Obama's administration. From this presidential term forward the Carter Administration will be referred to as simply the second worst administration ever in American Political History.

I really do believe that folks lend President Obama far too much credit for planning the destruction of America. Don't any of you know a hysterical, "knee jerk" liberal? These people don't think, they react. By analogy, liberals are like a collection of the neighborhood kids camping out in the back yard taking turns telling scary stories, each trying to outdo all the others. There seems to be some sort of contest to see who can out-liberal all the others.

My take, the Obama Administration is still trying to deal with the world the way that the administration thinks that the world ought to be as opposed to dealing with the world the way that the world actually is. Just like a bunch of little kids trying to make up the rules of the make-believe game that they're playing as they go along.

Events of late have actually given me some sense of hope. I'd go so far as to say that the next administration is going to tell the Sierra Club, the liberals and the rest of the brain-dead, self proclaimed "intellectual elite" to sit down and shut up. Then they're going to tell the private sector to go drill some holes in the ground and get this show on the road. The end.

We have the completely failed Obama Administration in every aspect, failed foreign policy, failed domestic policy, failed economic policy. A legacy of failure. Japan is screwed for all time. I work in the car building industry. trust me on this one. The physical plant that produces enough of the parts to support a siginificant portion of global production is gone. The people that worked in these factories are dead. The computers that stored even something so simple as a physical inventory are gone, destroyed. Toyota can't even tell if they can build cars or for how long. Now, you might wonder what any of this has to do with the current discussion. President Obama is a globalist, just as Bush was a globalist, just as Clinton was a globalist and so on. Japan is the object lesson. Do you really want the American economy directly tied to a foreign economy that we can't control or protect? I'd say that the next administration will be an economic powerhouse with all the building of factories and manufacturing being done here in America.

The Obama administration will go down in political science textbooks as the perfect example of how to do everything wrong from this day forward, the hallmark example of incompetance and impotency.

westerly| 4.2.11 @ 4:05AM

You, friend, are dangerously naive. How do you think a person gets elected to the presidency who does not meet even the most cursory requirement of the office (both parents must be U.S. citizens), then gets all state representatives to swear that he's eligible? Who makes his first executive action to block all personal records for the next 20 years, who made the second greatest profit from the housing meltdown (ask John McCain about that!) whose biggest campaign contributor happens to be the most evil man in the world (Gyorgy Schwartz, dba George Soros).

In his first week on the job he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (for what he was EXPECTED to do - this was the actual explanation!) The prime minister of Pakistan tells him he would be the perfect candidate for the creation of the global caliphate - practically telling him he believes him to be the 12th imam. Do you know that he is the only president of the Harvard Law review to be elected rather than selected (as in, he didn't need to write a paper to apply - unheard of!) Have you read about this man's stratospheric rise through the Chicago political engine? And you actually think that he did all of these things accidentally? This man has powerful, rich, connected handlers and he is no mere bungler.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 8:19AM

You friend are jumping at shadows.

President Obama has ultra-wealthy friends for sure. So did President Bush and so did President Clinton. Soros has been around for a while now and screwing around with socialist engineering projects for just as long. Remember the "Captain Planet" cartoon show?

Having lived in the National Socialist People's Republic of Illinois I will tell you from first hand experience that a person of President Obama's character would rise to the top of the Chicago political machine for the same reasons that the big pieces float. Google up Carol Mosely-Braun. Carol Mosely-Braun could have been Obama by being black, female and politically connected fifteen years sooner if she hadn't got caught hob-nobbing with some African dictator/mass-murderer. For that matter there was whathisname, Jessie Jackson Part Duex that could have been President Obama ten years sooner if he could have managed to keep his bimbos under control.

President Obama was elected for a variety of reasons. I'd say that the primary reasons, perhaps a dead tie, was that Obama wasn't Bush and Obama is black. When Obama was running for president everybody wanted to prove that they were progressive enough to elect a black man to the highest office in the land. Ergo, we get the Obama administration. All of the peripheral details were just that, peripheral. Nobody cared that the guy was completely unqualified and ineligible.

Take a look at President Obama's cabinet. president Obama's cabinet is a hodge-podge of political and social activists and intellectual demigogues, no more, no less. President Obama's cabinet is just as inept as he is.

In my own most humble opinion President Obama is the dog that caught the car. Now what? I'll say it again, the Obama administration will go down in American Political history as the "average American voter" seeking to prove that they weren't racist with the result being a blend of ineptitude, bungling, impotence and good old fashioned human hubris.

The crying shame of the Obama administration is that there are several African-American personas that could serve in the capacity of President of the United States and do a credible job. I'd vote for Gereral Powell in a second and the last guy that I voted for was H. Ross Perot. At least General Powell had the personal integrity and dignity as a career Army officer to resign rather than be involved in the Iraq fiasco.

Need I say more?

Michael Tomlinson| 4.2.11 @ 8:36AM

Powell is an Obama apologist how's that for credibility?

Herman Cain would be a safer and better bet than a man who voted for and continues to defend Barack Obama, because of racial bigotry.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 8:59AM

I agree with you. I'll add that there are other African-Americans that would be a more credible political candidate that President Obama. Calvin Thomas anyone? Thomas Sowell?

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 8:54AM

I need to say more.

I want to add that the political vacuum created by the political demise of Mosley-Braun and JJ probably accelerated the rise of President Obama.

cuban pete| 4.2.11 @ 4:48PM

The last guy you voted for was Perot. The participation of that pissant secured Clinton's victory over George H.W.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 6:32PM

Your point being?

Elitist, globalist, snob. Put 'em in a bag and shake 'em up, pull one out. What's the difference?

Adam| 4.2.11 @ 3:24AM

Since when this clown a serious writer?

Michael Tomlinson| 4.2.11 @ 8:50AM

I guess you actually believe the myth that Obama is "smart" or an "intellectual." I'd like to see his college and university transcripts. I guess they're lost with the birth certificate too.

beebop| 4.2.11 @ 7:49PM

Yeah .... about that ... the guy who promised the most transparent admin evah hides all personal details ... this bother anyone else?

Faithful| 4.4.11 @ 5:39PM

No, he's "brilliant". Oh wait, that's what they said about Billy Boy Clintoon.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 9:26AM

Pull your skirt down Adam, your civility is showing.

beebop| 4.2.11 @ 4:15PM

Long before you learned to write a sensible, intelligent sentence. Just sayin' ...

Rick| 4.2.11 @ 7:21AM

Your a rasist!

Bob Grant| 4.2.11 @ 11:17AM

you be a razzzist?

Keyser_Soze| 4.2.11 @ 8:08AM

I completely agree with Mr. Stein.

We need a president that understands, this is the new conflict between right and wrong in the world.

Muslim Sharia Facsist Theorcracy vs Democracy.

You can attempt to ignore it. You can attempt to washwash it in political correctness. But it exists and we need a president that recognizes this reality.

Longplay| 4.2.11 @ 9:03AM

The only upside to the Middle East goings-on is that maybe, just maybe, the resulting Iranian terrortist-nation hegemony will finally wake the Western elite out of their PC stupor concerning the aims of the leaders of the Islamic world.

Randy4| 4.2.11 @ 11:48AM

The world keeps trying to rationalize Obama's actions because we simply can't believe the U.S. president can be so bloody stupid - but he is! Obama is living proof that the Peter Principle is alive and well and residing in the White House in Washington.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 8:02PM

Hey Randy4,

I don't think that President Obama is stupid. "Your enemy is never a villian in his own eyes..." I would go so far as to say that President Obama, in his own mind, according to his own world view, his paradigm, thinks that he is doing a bang-up job. I would imagine that in private, President Obama is wondering why it is that he is so desperately unpopular. President Obama has done evertything that the liberal establishment has said would work and that the world demands, bowing and advocating and the like.

President Obama has spent his entire life, best as I can tell, nearly perfectly insulated from real world reality and the way that he attempts to manipulate the real world demonstrates this insulated condition.

DANSHANTEAL| 4.2.11 @ 12:39PM

MY SENTIMENTS, EXACTLY. LOCK AND LOAD.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 7:05PM

Did Nurse Ratchet screw up your afternoon meds?

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 7:53PM

Hey Dan, 'ol buddy, you know that American Spectator has your e-mail and IP address don't you? You know that NSA has the bestest and latest and greatest data mining technology that does nothing other than look for phrases like "lock and load." You know that Am Spec's server farm wouldn't last sixty seconds up against an NSA computer based metasploit attack and they'd have all of your data before you could safely power down your computer. Truth be told, if they want to do the deal leagally they just get a warrant from a judge and then hang you out to dry.

Basically what I'm getting at is that your bulldog mouth is going to get your puppy dog a$$ in trouble. Not trying to be a jerk or anything but for sure, you don't want cop trouble and you for damned sure don't want federal cop trouble.

Dial down on the zeal a notch or five and give it another swing.

Wayne | 4.2.11 @ 1:05PM

Any doubt that Obama is our first anti-american president?

Bulgaricus| 4.2.11 @ 1:27PM

Himself!

jharp| 4.2.11 @ 1:58PM

Ben,

You are an incredible dickhead. And the fact that someone pays you to post this mindless drivel is flabbergasting.

Wingnut welfare. Without it you are nothing. Getting paid to lie about and bring down the black man.

Your parents must be very proud of you.

George True| 4.2.11 @ 3:30PM

What is it with you and the name calling????? our name calling is infantile. You will NEVER be allowed to take part in the conversation here until you start acting like an adult.

When you behave this way, you also automatically brand your actual comments as not worth reading or responding to. If you were even half as smart as you pretend you are, you would realize that.

MarkR| 4.2.11 @ 3:32PM

Ah yes! I know I voted against Obama in 08- and then it was pointed out to me how racist I was. I have learned my lesson. I was confused. Any time I see a black man or woman I think not character- I think color- and it clears my mind and I feel so much better. The guilt goes away and I move on. When Obama is on the tube I stop in rapt attention knowing that the slightest attention to the messianic tones of the great leader will potentially heal the years of racist illogic and hateful bigotry which still can seep into my easily led astray mind. When I read your post I was reminded of my need to shut up the voice of discontent and logical evaluation and focus instead on the fact that Obama is a 1/2 black man and I need be thankful and ever mindful of that and to seek only to learn and never criticize that which I could never grasp being white. Thanks for the reminder.

beebop| 4.2.11 @ 4:13PM

Ben's father was the late Herbert Stein, was a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and was on the board of contributors of The Wall Street Journal. He was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Nixon and President Ford. From 1974 until 1984, he was the A. Willis Robertson Professor of Economics at the University of Virginia. Ben's mother Mildred was herself an economist who, after the birth of her daugher and Ben's older sister, surrendered her own career to raise her children.

Far more important to folks like Ben is not that Herb and Mildred were proud of Ben, but rather that he is very, very proud of them. Too bad you don't understand the concept. But. I wonder how proud your good parents are of someone as nasty as you?

jharp| 4.3.11 @ 10:54AM

"Ben's father was the late Herbert Stein, was a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and was on the board of contributors of The Wall Street Journal. He was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Nixon and President Ford. From 1974 until 1984, he was the A. Willis Robertson Professor of Economics at the University of Virginia."

Makes perfect sense as to Ben's behaviour. Typical right wing jackass. Born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.

beebop| 4.3.11 @ 12:13PM

It must be a terrible burden to have such flashes of insight!

Ben looked like the missing Marx Brother during his career at Yale and was an honorary Black Panther .... somehow I guess these facts didn't figure into your immature and jealous little tirade? Talk to your union rep.

jharp| 4.3.11 @ 12:23PM

Jealous? Yeah right.

I have always yearned to become a bigot just like Ben.

And a know nothing finance and economic dumbshit that thought the investment banks were a strong buy right before they went belly up and needed hundreds of billions of taxpayers dollars to survive.

God you people are stupid.

beebop| 4.3.11 @ 1:02PM

You are a complete douche. But I suspect you know that deep in your heart. If there is anyone who writes here who is less a "bigot" (when in doubt, fling that racist slur and pass it off as intellect, eh?) than Ben. If you've ever heard him speak -- and it is obvious that you have no native curiousity -- you would hear him in raptures over his hero Dr. King. So. Either Dr. King is the new unca tom for you non-black, non-jew, non-thinkers or you are as usual just blowing this all out your tuckus.

jharp| 4.3.11 @ 3:24PM

" -- you would hear him in raptures over his hero Dr. King"

Ben's liberal hero Dr. King?

Dr. King stood opposed to everything you stupid rednecks promote.

Especially this beauty. And I quote Ben "why don't we blow up the Iranian nuclear bomb making sites?"

Hmmm. Who would Dr. King blow up? Certainly not any non existent bomb making sites.

God you people are stupid.

The One Who Runs Like a Duck| 4.3.11 @ 4:33PM

We're stealing Libyan oil, Jharp. I have been trying to find someone who hates America as much as I do to run this illegal war. Then I thought why not Jharp? Sure, he doesn't know anything about running a war but either do I and nobody hates America more than Jharp. If you turn me down Jharp I will have to give it to the runner up and we are not talking about my gay nanny. We are talking about a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Muammar Gaddafi. He has expressed an interest in the job but is only a Colonel. Anyway let me know. Don't worry about your lack of smarts, I am putting that back into style among Democrats. We don't need oil anymore; we have the Chevy Volt and wind turbines. Gitmo has got to go. These are going to be one of my 2012 bumper stickers. What do you think? Stand up for your party Jharp. Ask not what your Party can do for you but ask what you can do for your Party. High speed rail to bankruptcy.

jharp| 4.3.11 @ 4:37PM

Go sign up for a freshman English class at your local community college.

We'll all be better off.

skip| 4.3.11 @ 8:47PM

...said the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it and who apparently has not learned anything from the 2/17 'Multiculturalism Has Failed', the 1/27 'Texas Tea', and the 12/2 'Opposing Obama' articles on AmSpec where readers can see in the comments sections how exactly the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it became known as the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it.

jharp| 4.3.11 @ 9:30PM

Hey skip,

Please. For all of us. Enroll with The One Who Runs Like a Duck in a freshman English class.

You would be amazed at the power of writing in complete sentences.

God you people are stupid.

skip| 4.3.11 @ 10:18PM

...said the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it as the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it fails to comprehend the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it has no rebuttal to the fact that the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it is in fact a jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it.

Rey Decerega| 4.3.11 @ 11:36PM

"The one who runs like a duck" is what the Indonesians called Obama when he lived there. I think Jharp maybe right that Obama's college education was a fraud.

jharp| 4.4.11 @ 12:12AM

"I think Jharp maybe right that Obama's college education was a fraud."

What in the hell are you talking about? Take another shot of Jack Daniels you drunken *sshole.

God you people are stupid.

The One Who Runs Like a Duck| 4.3.11 @ 8:55PM

Attacking a black man over his affirmative action college education is racism, Jharp. Without my teleprompter barking out instructions I get a little lost some times but that doesn't let you off the hook for the most awful American crime, bigotry against black people. You are just a typical white person a lot like my grand mama. Actually you are more like my gay nanny but you know what I mean. I guess you are turning down my offer to steal Libyan oil for the good of the world. I will have to leave it to the man with the green book. I hope you can live with yourself. The Libyan people were so close to freedom and were done in by a self hating gay guy from the US of A. There are a lot of little boys in Libya and you could join with the U.N. peace keepers when they get called in to protect the civilians. Their gay soldiers are famous throughout Africa. Great scores on the golf course this weekend. Boehner will still kick my butt but I am getting better. By better I mean my swing looks better in the mirror. Cao, little shoes. Gitmo has got to go on high speed rail to Cuba, baby.

Faithful| 4.4.11 @ 5:43PM

Hey Quacky, how are ya?

Negro X| 4.3.11 @ 9:58PM

Harp,
It's pretty obvious obama has you fooled. You are yet another useful idiot.

jharp| 4.3.11 @ 10:09PM

Nice moniker *sshole. Another ignorant racist redneck cracker shows his true colors.

God you people are stupid.

skip| 4.3.11 @ 10:43PM

...said the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it, who just posted "you would be amazed at the power of writing in complete sentences" immediately after writing the complete sentences "Please." and "For all of us.", and is such a jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it doesn't understand the power of writing in complete sentences.

The One Who Runs Like a Duck| 4.3.11 @ 11:20PM

We are cooking with gas now, gayharp. My golf game is good, my pick of UConn to be national champion is going to be proven right on Monday. Am I the greatest President ever or what? I have even got my country involved in another illegal war for oil. Halliburton is calling all the shots. Dick Cheny calls me every night with new requests for action. Rendition here. Illegal military tribunals there. We are holding all kinds of innocents in Gitmo. We are kind of like a stupid version of George W. Bush. Can you believe that you are getting all this just for giving hope and change a chance. You are such a smart one. My minions are much smarter than lets say Charlie Manson's minions. Most of his were heterosexual though. Mine, not so much. Well remember to use protection. Chevy Volts with 50 Cal machine guns to Libya, baby.

jharp| 4.3.11 @ 11:40PM

"We are cooking with gas now, gayharp."

Always comes to something to do with homosexuality with you idiots.

Why is that?

God you people are stupid.

skip| 4.4.11 @ 2:15PM

...said the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it, who just posted "always comes to something to do with homosexuality with you idiots", while ignoring the reality that the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it has posted the term "teabaggers", a particular homosexual act of deviant perversion, to describe a group of individuals who are more patriotic, productive, personally accountable, intelligent, honest, and moral than any other segment of society, countless times, proving yet again the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it is not only the single most stupid poster on AmSpec, but also the most dishonest, which is why the jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it is a jharping so stupid s-h-i-t who posts pathetic despicable lies over and over and whines when called out on it.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 8:05PM

Such language! Where did you learn to read and write? From the looks of things it was probably in a stall at the men's room at some interstate highway truck stop.

W| 4.2.11 @ 10:39PM

harpie, is this the best you can do? pathetic. you really believe ben stein wants to bring down a black man?

Koblog| 4.2.11 @ 2:01PM

I fear this whole trajectory we're on will end like many, many other crises brought on by well-meaning narcissistic messianic leftists down through history: a really, really big war (perhaps another "war to end all wars"), millions dead, cities burned to the ground...resulting in monuments erected on national malls to commemorate the Great Leader who bravely lead the Whole World through its nightmare.

Intelligent Design| 4.2.11 @ 4:07PM

The U.S. coming to the defense of the Libyan rebels in their effort to oust Gaddafi is similar to the U.S. government attacking Al Capone to defend George "Bugs" Moran, except it is much worse. The Libyan rebels are an extension of al Qaeda, the terrorists with whom we are at war ... the same guys killing American soldiers. So Obama is spending hundreds of millions of dollars and risking the lives of our soldiers to give aid and comfort to the enemy. This is the definition of treason, and he should be impeached.

The United States should get out of Afghanistan, get out of Iraq, and stay out of Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen, etc.. This would save the lives and limbs of our troops and hundreds of billions of taxpayers' money. Our so-called "leaders" are apparently too dumb to figure out that it is to our advantage if Muslims are fighting and killing other Muslims. Islam is subversive to secular law, including our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Congress should identify Islam as a subversive political ideology and organization. Immigration to the U.S. by Muslims should be halted. Mosques should be outlawed. Muslims should be banned from U.S. airports and airplanes. Islam is about the merger of the state and so-called "religion" to the exclusion of religious and personal freedom. Muslim countries have one thing in common: lack of freedom.

If the U.S. government wants to bomb something, it should bomb Iran's nuclear sites, or bomb Hamas Palestinians in Gaza ... the terrorists who have launched about 8,000 rocket and mortar attacks against our ally Israel in the past five years.

Are our Congressmen so dumb that they think the Islamic government of Afghanistan, or the Islamic government of Iraq, or the Islamic government of Egypt, or the Islamic government of Libya will ever be "allies" of the U.S.? The goal of Islam is to undermine secular law such as ours, and destroy freedom everywhere.

Our politicians and media would have us believe that there is a distinction between Islamic extremists and "moderate" Muslims. This is totally false. One is either a Muslim or one is not, sort of like a woman being pregnant. Islam is not even a religion, since true religions oppose evil, whereas Islam embodies evil.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 7:26PM

Hear, hear!

Please write more. I agree and "what you said."

I will put one idea on the table for your consideration. N.B. our politicians aren't stuipd, they're just repeating the mistakes of the past. Why did we get out a$$ handed to us at the start of WWII? Because we were prepared to fight WWI all over again. Same deal with Korea, we were ready to fight WWII again. Viet Nam, we were all stoked up to fight Korea again. And so on. We're fighting the current war that we're fighting as if it were the cold war all over again.

Consider, WWI and WWII we all know about. WWIII was the "Cold War." We're in the middle of WWIV right now except that it'll take twenty or so years for the historians to figure it all out. Predictably, we're still trying to fight WWIII, "winning hearts and minds."

Now, from my chair what we need to do in order to win this war is to do almost exactly what you just said. My addition being that Moslem nations want to be "free of the Western influence" I say OK, let 'em. No western medical technology. No western communication and computer technology. No western power generation and grid technology and for damned sure no western military technology. The savages want to live in the 6th century, I say let 'em. After three or four generations of sixty percent infant mortality, disease and poverty perhaps then these folks will evolve to the point that they can behave in a civilized fashion in the civilized world.

If you want to win this war you will have to develop new strategies and tactics. Old strategies and tactics won't work because they've been studied and the strengths and wekanesses identified. A carrier battle group is useless against these people. You could light up a 17KT three stage nuke in the thin air over Mecca and all you'd do is pi$$ these folks off forever. If you want to defeat these people do something original. I say give these savages exactly what they're asking for.

Richard Baker| 4.2.11 @ 4:47PM

Why is anyone surprised at the foolishness coming from the Kenyan? He had, as Rush Limbaugh called it, a five minute career and drank from the Communist cup throughout his adult life. As the Soviets called it, he has developed a cult of personality and an obsession with power. All this was known about him during the 2008 election and still the "useful idiots" in the media, academia, and the welfare class (including large corporations) adore this guy. The Chicago gangster method is how he governs, as well. Keep your powder dry and your hatchet scoured, my fellow Americans.

MarkR| 4.2.11 @ 4:54PM

Absolutely! I watch as this Alinskite tramples on every facet of constitutional government and American tradition and sigh- because the truth of this Marxist was for all to see in 07-08 in the run up to the election but it mattered not a wit. One was a racist ideologue who was only confusing the electorate when his background and statements and associations were discussed. So yes you are right- what in the hell is surprising about this guy? Nothing he's done or may do is a surprise.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 8:12PM

Mark,

Read the book.

Read "Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky. I did. It'll take you an afternoon, it's not a long book at all. Alinsky even sows the seeds of his own destruction in the last chapter. It's like this, once the radicals achieve a position of power and authority they in turn become targets for radicals. It's a never ending cycle of political destruction. President Obama has lived his life as defined by "Rules for Radicals" and is suffering the fate defined in the very same book.

Really, get a copy of the book and read it. You'll see that President Obama is primed to self-destruct per the book. Best as I can tell the guy is probably going to do some serious damage to the Democrat political party too. I can't believe that anyone with any internal sense of integrity would pay the least attention to a liberal politician from this day forward.

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 8:22PM

Sorry, I'm baking a quiche and have some time to kill.

You and I have lived out our lives under a certain political reality. Part of the political reality is the Keyensian economic model. Part is just political pandering to the public servant and welfare classes, same today as it was in ancient Rome. The difference is that today with modern communication, research and education technologies you and I can learn and understand the history of the situation that we find ourselves in. We don't have to repeat the mistakes of history. People are waking up to the potential economic disaster in the European Union and the band-aid that they put on the wound, and here in America, spending money that we don't have pandering to the welfare class and to over-indulged public servants. The way that I see it the Europeans have decided to treat alcoholism with a bottle of whiskey. Maybe we can pull back from the edge in time, we'll see.

BackToBasics| 4.3.11 @ 1:22PM

I read that if Greece's currency had been national, i.e. drachmas, and not the Euro, thyeycould have devalued their currency and the fiscal meltdown they have been and still are going through could have been mitigated over time, instead of all at once. But being tied to the Euro prevented that.

I'm not for hyperinflating a currency but if a country is independent in this sense at least they have this option. And George W. Bush and Obam were and still are looking into getting rid of the dollar and introducing the Amero for the US, Canada and Mexico. It would be Greece on a larger scale.

FTM| 4.3.11 @ 10:15PM

You picked up on that pretty fast. I was thinking of Greece in specific when I said that the Europeans were treating alcoholism with a bottle of whiskey. The EU floated the Greeks a bunch of money with no real plan or asssurance that the Greeks are going to get their act together. Best as I can tell Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland are in pretty much the same shape as Greece, they're jest waiting to melt down.

The way that I see it, this mentality that it's OK to be all high and mighty when it comes to looking after the welfare of others by way of spending other people's money, taken by force has got to stop. We, the civilized people of the planet need to acknowledge that value added activity on the part of individuals is the only way to build and maintain civilization. Paying people to sit idle and reproduce in order to build a political constituency in the end is destructive.

WRJonas | 4.2.11 @ 5:34PM

I was thinking just now ,How I would love to see the tortured and twisted logic of Molly Ivins trying to describe Obamas excellent Libyan adventure .
It would would be a liberal putty recipe for the ages!
Whichever pile of glowing brimstones she is toiling away in, I''ll bet she yearns for the good old days .
t

Marxfreesociety| 4.2.11 @ 10:27PM

Wake up and vote this idiot out of office

Elvis| 4.4.11 @ 5:46PM

Thank ewe verah muuch.

Etaoin Shrdlu| 4.2.11 @ 10:27PM

Mr. Stein understands about as much of the current situation in Egypt as he did about the financial meltdown in 2007-09, back when every week brought a new column from him on Yahoo Finance explaining how everything was wonderful and people should keep pouring money down the stock toilet.

FBanta| 4.2.11 @ 11:15PM

Actually the US has a very long history replacing bad guys that we put into power with worse guys that we put into power.

The fact that there is no Constitutional authority to do any of this simply adds insult to injury. Let's impeach BOzo for usurping authorities not delegated and move on. The longer he stays in office the more damage he will do.

monica lamoure | 4.3.11 @ 6:30AM

I guess now we have a case of treason against our president, don't we?

morris wise| 4.3.11 @ 3:38PM

Humanitarian assistance to the besieged civilians of Benghazi must be expanded to Black Africa. Millions are being hacked and raped to death while the US and Europe plays with their Ipods. One town on the Ivory Coast recently had over 800 of its citizens murdered. Humanitarians can stop the rapes and slaughter, they should pack their bags and visit Black Africa. Their moral values might shed light into the hearts of darkness.

WolfAmongSheep| 4.3.11 @ 4:18PM

The reason Obama is helping our enemies is because he wants them to bring their way of life here and institute it in America. America is in bigger danger today than she ever was from the Brits during the Revolution, the Germans in WWI, the Axis in WWII or the Commies from the rest of the 20th Century. We need to pull ourselves out of this Apathetic state of mind, before it is too late.

Rush Youngberg| 4.4.11 @ 1:43AM

Stein is smart, but is he able to be objective. If oil and Israel were not in the ME would we care? Is Pan-Arabism a threat to Europe, and thus to the U.S? Is Saudi Arabia really our ally? Would not the Shiites and Sunni go to war with each other? It appears that the majority of the ME countries are tribal. Britain drew boundaries across ethnicities and cultures. The CIC is supposed to defend the U.S. Can that be in keeping with protecting our supply of oil? Obama appears to be anti-oil. Is it in our national interest to protect Israel? Obama appears to be anti-Israel. So from the CICs perspective he sees no reason to be in ME, other than the threat by Iran. This would justify Afghanistan and Pakistan. It would justify Egypt and Libya if we see Saudi as an ally. We cannot maintain an image of the "beacon of freedom" if we support dictators in Egypt and Libya. Now, as I understand it we are again sending in the Air Force, after the "bad weather" pause. We probably have black ops on the ground. A Marine expeditionary force is standing by. How does one make any sense of this? Perhaps the dominoes are falling and the CIC was clueless and had no plans.
Gates said as much. We say we do not know who the rebels are. Again where is our intel? We appear to be inconsistent and apoplectic. As Gates says we are working "on the fly". Why was Gates held over by Obama in the first place? We need to get Rahm. He never let's a crisis go to waste. It's time for the Saudi's and Israeli's to knock out Iran's air defenses, while the U.S. attacks from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. The CIC is "brilliant" and everyone forgets about his NCAA picks.

rongordo | 4.4.11 @ 11:38AM

Careful, the jobs suggestion might give the Democrats the idea to bomb Detroit and blame the future POTUS. Seeing how Obama has taken/been given credit for "organizing" the rebllions in Egypt and Libya, it's a safe bet to guess that he sides with whoever is taking over those places.

Zilla | 4.4.11 @ 4:25PM

Linked at my place:
http://zillablog.marezilla.com.....around.htm

Charles Martel| 4.5.11 @ 3:46PM

It's the Nancy Pelosi school of international relations: we have to install them in power to find out what they are.

+++

charles wick| 4.7.11 @ 1:11PM

Wonderful essay, Ben. My bile has been rising everytime I listen to Mr Barack H. Obama these days. You are right, where is Mr Nixon when we need him?

Joe W.| 4.7.11 @ 1:48PM

Our President's actions and motivations are not so confusing if you conclude that the man is a Muslim at heart. Of course, I doubt that he would admit that since he could forget about running for the Presidency once more.

RiverKing| 4.7.11 @ 2:20PM

re: 0 and Sen. Kerry on jobs for Egyptians and Libyans.

Memo to Detroit: It might be a good idea to resurrect any bomb shelters you have left over from the Cold War.

Memo to 0 and Kerry: We have plenty of jobs here in Texas.

Mr. T| 4.7.11 @ 6:24PM

Obama is a well spoken bag of hot air with some bizarre priorities that nobody shares. According to Jon Stewart on the Daily Show; the freedom fighters were riled up by Obama when he promised full support to anyone standing up for freedom during his numerous human rights speeches last year when he toured the middle east. The freedom fighters in the middle east are being slaughtered in his wake.
Muzzy Freak Louis Calypso Farakahn says to the Prez." Who the hell do you think you are?"

Peter Lockett| 4.8.11 @ 1:15AM

I thought bringing democracy to the middle east was also the policy of Bush and was the reason we invaded Iraq. He spent over a trillion dollar doing it S100 a barrel oil is cheap in comparison, and Obama has been more successful since it is not just one country that is getting rid of dictators.
http://www.healthproductreview.....eview.html

Occam's Tool| 4.10.11 @ 11:12PM

Jharp is just a purulent scab that itches too much not to be picked. I'm sorry, George, I try not to stoop, but he just presents his chin on a tee and hands me the 9 iron...

weddingdresses | 6.27.11 @ 5:01AM

Creative Recreation | 8.10.11 @ 10:59PM

is good

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Anthony| 4.2.11 @ 2:23PM

Frisbee| 4.4.11 @ 10:27PM

Martin Owens| 4.1.11 @ 12:19PM

David T| 4.1.11 @ 12:22PM

BackToBasics| 4.1.11 @ 12:23PM

suzy000| 4.1.11 @ 12:37PM

SpiralArchitect| 4.1.11 @ 8:29PM

Clint| 4.2.11 @ 9:31AM

Fredrick Ward| 4.4.11 @ 4:10PM

Sam Levi| 4.5.11 @ 11:49AM

Drunken Sailor| 4.1.11 @ 12:45PM

Michael Tomlinson| 4.2.11 @ 8:40AM

thebardofmurdock | 4.1.11 @ 1:12PM

spinoneone| 4.1.11 @ 3:46PM

Frisbee| 4.4.11 @ 10:30PM

PattyMor| 4.1.11 @ 1:38PM

Jack| 4.2.11 @ 2:01PM

ENOUGH ROPE| 4.1.11 @ 1:57PM

S.M. Murray | 4.1.11 @ 9:42PM

Cuffs| 4.1.11 @ 2:01PM

Bob Grant| 4.2.11 @ 11:07AM

Jeamar37| 4.1.11 @ 2:12PM

Dixie Pixie| 4.1.11 @ 5:18PM

FTM| 4.2.11 @ 2:13AM

Bob Grant| 4.2.11 @ 11:12AM

carol| 4.1.11 @ 2:16PM

ABNCP| 4.1.11 @ 3:16PM

old progmr| 4.1.11 @ 3:17PM

Ron| 4.1.11 @ 3:21PM

Brett Kelley| 4.1.11 @ 5:10PM

SpiralArchitect| 4.1.11 @ 8:34PM

Drunken Sailor| 4.1.11 @ 5:12PM

W| 4.1.11 @ 5:55PM

Occam's Tool| 4.2.11 @ 1:32AM

Skippy| 4.2.11 @ 5:57PM

Occam's Tool| 4.3.11 @ 3:24AM

gentlewaves| 4.1.11 @ 3:23PM

obadiah| 4.1.11 @ 3:33PM

TennesseeVolunteer| 4.1.11 @ 3:46PM

Drunken Sailor| 4.1.11 @ 5:14PM

Michael Tomlinson| 4.2.11 @ 8:45AM

carol| 4.1.11 @ 3:42PM

Larsky| 4.1.11 @ 3:59PM

gary siebel| 4.1.11 @ 4:21PM